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The Bike Show may be off air, but come with us on a trip to Belgium, home of the Flemish hard men and De Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). Along the way I get a surprise tour of the legendary showers at the Roubaix velodrome (pictured left).

It’s the end of the road for The Bike Show. Find out why in this special podcast only final edition featuring many Bike Show favourites including Buffalo Bill, editor of Moving Target, cycle sport correspondent William Greswell, London bike messenger Nhatt Attack, Barry Mason of Southwark Cyclists, and Joe and Wes from the London Bicycle Repair Company.

Please note that this special episode was broadcast on 1 April and is what is known, in France, as Un Poisson D’Avril.

In the last of the current season we drop in on a police bicycle auction to pick up a bargain. Plus a bike pop epic from the Grave Architects (pictured above) and we hear from Jo Upton, presenter of Bike Love, a bicycling radio show in Sydney, Australia.

The Rás Tailteann is an 8 day stage race in the Republic of Ireland held each May since 1953. A particularly gruelling race, some say it is Ireland’s ‘Tour de France’ and it is a much cherished tradition, far more so than the Tour of Ireland. John Herety, Directeur Sportif of the Rapha-Condor road racing team and formerly DS of Recycling.co.uk talks about the modern Rás. We also tell the story of possibly the greatest legend of the Rás: ‘Iron Man’ Mick Murphy, the blood-drinking, fire-eating hard man who won the 1958 race in quite extraordinary circumstances. Peter Woods is a documentary-maker at RTÉ and tracked down Murphy (pictured above, at his home-made stone gym) and tells the story of one of sport’s living legends. Woods’s 40 minute documentary is compulsory listening. You can find it on the RTÉ website.

No Bike Week will soon be upon us. It is an experiment in asceticism and an attempt to subvert the tired notions of government-sanctioned “Bike Weeks” that take place from time to time.

Here’s how it works. You – a regular cyclist – vow not to ride a bicycle, tricycle, unicycle or other pedal-powered mechanical contrivance from 23.59 on Sunday 8th March for seven full days and nights. You may ride again from 00.01 on Monday 16 March. During this period, which you might like to think of as a “bikefast”, you will keep a record of how you manage to get around, how you’re feeling, what’s going through your mind from one day to the next. Your expectations, frustrations, unexpected pleasures, unbearable torments…. whatever they may be. The best way to do this is using a voice memo function on a mobile phone, or other recording device. Failing that, a pen and paper will do. The results will be compiled into a No Bike Week feature on The Bike Show.

I am inviting all those taking part to be my guest for a Last SupperCarnival on Sunday evening, 8 March, somewhere in central London, quite possibly at my house. If you don’t live in London or even in the UK, you can still take part. We will find a way to connect with you. If you’d like to join the brave souls who have already agreed to take part, please get in touch by email bikeshow@resonancefm.com.

The Ride Journal was launched last year to widespread acclaim. Issue two is at the printers. Philip and Andrew Diprose, editor and art director, explain how they came to start a journal of personal stories about how bikes have changed people’s lives.

Among the articles in Issue 2 of The Ride Journal is Rediscovered by Rona Sutherland and is read by Ruby Wright. Ruby presents a fortnightly music podcast on Radio Nowhere called Ruby’s Chicky Boil-Ups. It’s great!. And if you want to read the article on the Highway Cycling Group from Issue 1, it’s here.

We also spotlight the new issue of Rouleur, the quarterly magazine from the Rapha stable, including an extract from Jean Bobet’s Tomorrow We Ride, translated by Adam Berry and read by Jean-Marie Orhan. To win a copy of issue 12 of Rouleur, send the correct answer to the question by email to bikeshow@resonancefm.com.